It was high 5s all round as Bournemouth ParkRun celebrated its 5th birthday with a beach-themed event. No fake news here as – on the level - our undercover reporter snapped the action while disguised as a VI Guide. As ever his probing questions get to the bottom of things.

Several runners got their rings out in support of the theme. Our tail walker, Val, was in a unicorn. Another runner (with a particularly red ring) candidly admitted hers was “too big to play with on the beach”.

One runner had left his lime green mankini in the box. Or was the other way round?

The 70 first timers included Branston (“as in the pickle”), a paddleboarding pooch from Bransgore, who kept owner Charlie on a short lead (as per ParkRun rules) and visitors from as far afield as Australia and Great Notley in Essex.

No party is complete without balloons, bunting and cake. The weather was a bit breezy and Jean-René struggled to control his number 5 balloon having had a number 2 part way round the course.

Having been at the second ever Bournemouth ParkRun, identical twins Sue and Elaine from Stockport had rejigged their holiday dates to be with us. According to Sue (or Elaine) the best beach in Stockport is Reddish Vale Beach on the River Tame (it joins the River Goyt at Stockport where it becomes the Mersey). “We’ve got everything,” added Elaine (or Sue), “sand, ice cream from the Visitors’ Centre, shopping trolleys - the lot.”

The entirely home-made cake (NOT!) was much devoured. So it was nuts to the tail walker and marshals. Luna, the surf-boarding dog (see photo), finished off the crumbs as our bathing beauties paraded for the masses. Talking of cake, we were reliably informed that the best cake to eat on the beach is “a Victoria SANDwich.”

Talking of beaches, the God of ParkRun volunteers, Steve (he deserves to be deified) once fell asleep on a beach only to wake to discover it was for nudists and he was surrounded by two teams of Swedish volley-ball players… It’s a hard life, eh, Steve? Another random beach-themed comment involved Nikki’s more recent encounter with nudists. “I was paddling past in a kayak and they all popped up like meerkats.” Really?!

Do note that ‘kayak’ is just one of three palindromes (google it) in this report. Can you find the others?

To the question ‘what’s the most fun you’ve ever had on a beach?’ answers included “I’m not sure you can print that – but sand goes everywhere”, David’s “With Spencer – chasing all the other dogs’ balls,” and the short but sweet “That’s X-rated!”

Undercover ParkRun Reporter – out!

This week 469 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 72 were first timers and 72 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 43 different clubs took part.

The male record is held by Neil Robert BONIFACE who recorded a time of 15:34 on 25th June 2016 (event number 151).
The female record is held by Charlotte PENFOLD who recorded a time of 17:18 on 17th June 2017 (event number 203).
The Age Grade course record is held by Caroline HORDER who recorded 95.57% (22:12) on 19th May 2018 (event number 251).

Bournemouth parkrun started on 24th August 2013. Since then 11,254 participants have completed 85,572 parkruns covering a total distance of 427,860 km, including 14,378 new Personal Bests.

The male record is held by Neil Robert BONIFACE who recorded a time of 15:34 on 25th June 2016 (event number 151).
The female record is held by Charlotte PENFOLD who recorded a time of 17:18 on 17th June 2017 (event number 203).
The Age Grade course record is held by Caroline HORDER who recorded 95.57% (22:12) on 19th May 2018 (event number 251).

Bournemouth parkrun started on 24th August 2013. Since then 10,775 participants have completed 81,837 parkruns covering a total distance of 409,185 km, including 13,912 new Personal Bests.